"All children are gifted.
Some just open their presents later than others." ---unknown

Monday, July 7, 2008

Jeezaloo...

...when did I become a senior citizen? I feel like I've been run over by a mack truck. After taking Thursday night off from the bar, then being closed on Friday for the 4th, you would think I would have recovered. But, then I worked open to close again Saturday and Sunday, so I'm feeling it again today. I realize my brother has been doing this for months now, 7 days a week (and for years at the bar he used to own downtown) but hell, he's significantly younger than me, as he happily pointed out the other night. The little shit! I couldn't even be bothered/insulted by it though, because I had the exact thought even before he mentioned it. He's actually a little worried about me. I love my baby brother!

In case you were wondering, he's feeling better, but still not 100% yet. He came in Saturday night at about 9, and just mostly hung out with me while I worked. Yesterday, we met at Sam's Club before "work" to get some things for the bar, and then he was going to go home and take a shower and change before coming to the bar. Instead, he ended up meeting me there, and somehow ended up going outside and washing the windows. After that, despite saying 10 times that he was going to go home and shower and change, he never left. He just kinda hung out with me, which was fun. I was slow enough that I could handle all the bartending by myself, but it was nice to have him there to answer questions for me. One of our cousins stopped by at one point with his boyfriend, and luckily there weren't any customers there at the time, so we got to visit for a while.

Luckily for me, the handful of customers we did have were all great tippers, so I made some nice money again. I'm feeling horribly guilty, though, that my brother won't take any of it. He did the same thing Saturday night. He only worked one night this week, so I know he needs the money. His tip money is what he lives on and pays his personal bills with, so I feel really bad that he wouldn't take any of it on Saturday or last night. On the flip side, I know he feels bad that I've been putting in so many hours, mostly alone. He made reference the other night to my being able to make enough money this summer to pay my son's tuition for the year. Now, believe me, that would be great, but I don't want it to be at my brother's expense. Jeez, why can't we just hate each other and not care what happens to the other? Let me reiterate - I LOVE MY BABY BROTHER!

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich. ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis," M*A*S*H